So instead of boring you with more tedious details of my planning escapades, I decided to focus on something else. In anticipation of my trip, as well as knowing very little about Muslim culture, I've been keeping up with world news (I am notoriously bad at this, not because I don't want to know what's going on in the world, but because I find the American news media so damn depressing). However, since shit is hitting the fan all over North Africa and the Middle East, I figured if I'm going to a Muslim country (not to mention my current studio project is working with a school in Saudi Arabia), I better know something about what is going on over there. Furthermore, I've been reading this book on eastern (particularly Malaysian...thus Chinese, Indian, and Malay) culture, belief systems, and customs. I'm beginning to form opinions about what is going on and why we can't just all get along (well, not quite yet anyway).
I'd first like to start out with what prompted me to write this in the first place....WTF is America doing in Libya? First of all, you went in with just the FRENCH...the French. Now I don't have anything against the people of France, but the military?...come on I'm American (we just can't help ourselves). Second of all, WTF is America doing there? But wait, you say, America handed the duties over to NATO. Well who's really in charge of Nato? It isn't the Canadians I'll tell you that much (once again, it's this America thing). So, in order to mask direct involvement, America is currently hiding behind NATO. Technicalities aside, how can the American government bounce off into another armed conflict (which are never short endeavors), costing citizens more tax dollars, pilling it on top of a deficit so large it's comical, send human beings into violence so they can get involved in a conflict that they have no attachment to what-so-ever, just so they can live in fear constantly and fire mis-hits (adding to the fear and detachment) because of the lack of proper mapping in the region? Not to mention they are doing all of this while the economy is in such a poor state that hourly jobs are hard to come by even with a master's degree? Something is just plain wrong with this picture.
Isn't Gadhafi evil and shouldn't we free the people? Didn't the rebels ask for our help? Well I've got news for the world, America shouldn't (and quite honestly, can't) be the world's babysitter. Yes, before I get accused of being some type of dictator lover, it is obvious that Gadhafi is crazy. I mean bat shit insane. He's like Charlie Sheen but on a whole new level, he's openly been 'winning' his whole life (King of Africa?....Really dude?). He's done awful things, and the world is most likely much better off without him, but I have no doubt that if the people are that pissed off, he'll go without our help (I've always said that the best solutions are those that come from roots up approaches). Oh and yes, the rebels did ask for our help. But (allegedly) so did the Iraqis way back in '91. How did that turn out for us? Seriously, did we not JUST go through this? Has the American government really not learned that they are digging themselves large hole? Or are they really that greedy for oil, money, and power that they just don't care that they are screwing over Libya as well as their own people? I suspect oil is the reason, because well, if we love repeating our mistakes that much, that's the general belief as to why we bothered with Iraq. It's an obvious statement that the world's dependency on oil needs to end (read Collapse by Jared M. Diamond). However, I am not the one with the answer. It's there, but I don't know enough about economics to suggest anything that could begin to answer that question (I'll save cap and trade for another day).
If we are there primarily for oil, we are going about getting it in the complete wrong way (military violence seems to create more problems than it solves). Here's the problem, whenever we go into a place (from a government standpoint) we assume that the native people want to be just like America. Well guess what? They don't. Now, this mistake is most likely an accident, because it is really hard to accept that there are other world views than your own. I'm not talking at a personal level, I'm talking about a deep cultural connectivity that makes us not just American, but Westerners as well. I would argue that other western cultures may be better at recognizing this than us, but that is simply a matter of how isolated we are relative to other western countries. Furthermore, we loudly, proudly, and ignorantly try to go impose our views and focusing on ourselves. This may be borderline acceptable to our other western counterparts, but in places like the Middle East, the Far East, and Africa, this can be extremely offensive to say the least. In other words, as an American, we tend to believe in certain core values that affect our everything from our everyday lives and behaviors to how we make choices and what our country (in theory) stands for. We were founded on a distrust of government, right to act as we please (within reason -and at our founding, 'we' meant white males), and the celebration of the individual. That is what we believe in and it has (for the most part) worked for us. A country under completely different circumstances containing cultures with completely different belief systems may have a different type of solution. In fact the cultural differences can be so great, that us westerners may not be able to even comprehend why a group would act a certain way. Our celebration of the individual is the complete opposite of many cultures, where decisions are made based upon group consensus. In fact, so much emphasis is placed on total group consensus that any act made outside of that consensus can be seen as betrayal (aka a serious offense). So if we go running in and set up a government as fast as we can (because our culture values efficiency) we may end up not only offending an entire group of people, but we may have made the wrong choices in the process. It is important to understand that just because one group of people does something in a way so foreign that it seems useless to us, that it isn't bad or wrong. It's just different. Do I believe that westerners or Americans in particular are especially bad at this? No, I believe that the world shrunk so fast that most of the world is unable to really wrap their heads around it. Westerners seem to travel and spread out more, so we are faced with dealing with these problems on foreign soil more often. I'm sure the business man from Japan who is used to going through a long process of consensus for big choices made by the company was most likely shocked to find out that he had no input on a move made from higher up.
I can already hear the words 'well if you don't like it here and you think we are all ignorant then why don't you get out?' Well, luckily for you, those thoughts have crossed my mind and more frequently as I get older. However, I like being an American. I like American people (just not a huge fan of the government, but that's part of being American). Even if I did become a full-time expat I was born an American. That means I have certain cultural values and views that are so deeply entrenched in my brain that they won't simply leave. I would always be an outsider, no matter how hard I tried to understand another culture. I'm simply stating that if there is any hope for our generation to take a forward step in the opposite direction, being comfortable with differences beyond your understanding, keeping an open mind, and LISTENING instead of hearing we may be on the right track. Oh, and America, get the heck out of Libya and help your PEOPLE (not your wallet) you have been SWORN to PROTECT (that goes beyond military spending).
Phew. Glad that's over.
-M
So instead of boring you with more tedious details of my planning escapades, I decided to focus on something else. In anticipation of my trip, as well as knowing very little about Muslim culture, I've been keeping up with world news (I am notoriously bad at this, not because I don't want to know what's going on in the world, but because I find the American news media so damn depressing). However, since shit is hitting the fan all over North Africa and the Middle East, I figured if I'm going to a Muslim country (not to mention my current studio project is working with a school in Saudi Arabia), I better know something about what is going on over there. Furthermore, I've been reading this book on eastern (particularly Malaysian...thus Chinese, Indian, and Malay) culture, belief systems, and customs. I'm beginning to form opinions about what is going on and why we can't just all get along (well, not quite yet anyway).
I'd first like to start out with what prompted me to write this in the first place....WTF is America doing in Libya? First of all, you went in with just the FRENCH...the French. Now I don't have anything against the people of France, but the military?...come on I'm American (we just can't help ourselves). Second of all, WTF is America doing there? But wait, you say, America handed the duties over to NATO. Well who's really in charge of Nato? It isn't the Canadians I'll tell you that much (once again, it's this America thing). So, in order to mask direct involvement, America is currently hiding behind NATO. Technicalities aside, how can the American government bounce off into another armed conflict (which are never short endeavors), costing citizens more tax dollars, pilling it on top of a deficit so large it's comical, send human beings into violence so they can get involved in a conflict that they have no attachment to what-so-ever, just so they can live in fear constantly and fire mis-hits (adding to the fear and detachment) because of the lack of proper mapping in the region? Not to mention they are doing all of this while the economy is in such a poor state that hourly jobs are hard to come by even with a master's degree? Something is just plain wrong with this picture.
Isn't Gadhafi evil and shouldn't we free the people? Didn't the rebels ask for our help? Well I've got news for the world, America shouldn't (and quite honestly, can't) be the world's babysitter. Yes, before I get accused of being some type of dictator lover, it is obvious that Gadhafi is crazy. I mean bat shit insane. He's like Charlie Sheen but on a whole new level, he's openly been 'winning' his whole life (King of Africa?....Really dude?). He's done awful things, and the world is most likely much better off without him, but I have no doubt that if the people are that pissed off, he'll go without our help (I've always said that the best solutions are those that come from roots up approaches). Oh and yes, the rebels did ask for our help. But (allegedly) so did the Iraqis way back in '91. How did that turn out for us? Seriously, did we not JUST go through this? Has the American government really not learned that they are digging themselves large hole? Or are they really that greedy for oil, money, and power that they just don't care that they are screwing over Libya as well as their own people? I suspect oil is the reason, because well, if we love repeating our mistakes that much, that's the general belief as to why we bothered with Iraq. It's an obvious statement that the world's dependency on oil needs to end (read Collapse by Jared M. Diamond). However, I am not the one with the answer. It's there, but I don't know enough about economics to suggest anything that could begin to answer that question (I'll save cap and trade for another day).
If we are there primarily for oil, we are going about getting it in the complete wrong way (military violence seems to create more problems than it solves). Here's the problem, whenever we go into a place (from a government standpoint) we assume that the native people want to be just like America. Well guess what? They don't. Now, this mistake is most likely an accident, because it is really hard to accept that there are other world views than your own. I'm not talking at a personal level, I'm talking about a deep cultural connectivity that makes us not just American, but Westerners as well. I would argue that other western cultures may be better at recognizing this than us, but that is simply a matter of how isolated we are relative to other western countries. Furthermore, we loudly, proudly, and ignorantly try to go impose our views and focusing on ourselves. This may be borderline acceptable to our other western counterparts, but in places like the Middle East, the Far East, and Africa, this can be extremely offensive to say the least. In other words, as an American, we tend to believe in certain core values that affect our everything from our everyday lives and behaviors to how we make choices and what our country (in theory) stands for. We were founded on a distrust of government, right to act as we please (within reason -and at our founding, 'we' meant white males), and the celebration of the individual. That is what we believe in and it has (for the most part) worked for us. A country under completely different circumstances containing cultures with completely different belief systems may have a different type of solution. In fact the cultural differences can be so great, that us westerners may not be able to even comprehend why a group would act a certain way. Our celebration of the individual is the complete opposite of many cultures, where decisions are made based upon group consensus. In fact, so much emphasis is placed on total group consensus that any act made outside of that consensus can be seen as betrayal (aka a serious offense). So if we go running in and set up a government as fast as we can (because our culture values efficiency) we may end up not only offending an entire group of people, but we may have made the wrong choices in the process. It is important to understand that just because one group of people does something in a way so foreign that it seems useless to us, that it isn't bad or wrong. It's just different. Do I believe that westerners or Americans in particular are especially bad at this? No, I believe that the world shrunk so fast that most of the world is unable to really wrap their heads around it. Westerners seem to travel and spread out more, so we are faced with dealing with these problems on foreign soil more often. I'm sure the business man from Japan who is used to going through a long process of consensus for big choices made by the company was most likely shocked to find out that he had no input on a move made from higher up.
I can already hear the words 'well if you don't like it here and you think we are all ignorant then why don't you get out?' Well, luckily for you, those thoughts have crossed my mind and more frequently as I get older. However, I like being an American. I like American people (just not a huge fan of the government, but that's part of being American). Even if I did become a full-time expat I was born an American. That means I have certain cultural values and views that are so deeply entrenched in my brain that they won't simply leave. I would always be an outsider, no matter how hard I tried to understand another culture. I'm simply stating that if there is any hope for our generation to take a forward step in the opposite direction, being comfortable with differences beyond your understanding, keeping an open mind, and LISTENING instead of hearing we may be on the right track. Oh, and America, get the heck out of Libya and help your PEOPLE (not your wallet) you have been SWORN to PROTECT (that goes beyond military spending).
Phew. Glad that's over.
-M
So instead of boring you with more tedious details of my planning escapades, I decided to focus on something else. In anticipation of my trip, as well as knowing very little about Muslim culture, I've been keeping up with world news (I am notoriously bad at this, not because I don't want to know what's going on in the world, but because I find the American news media so damn depressing). However, since shit is hitting the fan all over North Africa and the Middle East, I figured if I'm going to a Muslim country (not to mention my current studio project is working with a school in Saudi Arabia), I better know something about what is going on over there. Furthermore, I've been reading this book on eastern (particularly Malaysian...thus Chinese, Indian, and Malay) culture, belief systems, and customs. I'm beginning to form opinions about what is going on and why we can't just all get along (well, not quite yet anyway).
I'd first like to start out with what prompted me to write this in the first place....WTF is America doing in Libya? First of all, you went in with just the FRENCH...the French. Now I don't have anything against the people of France, but the military?...come on I'm American (we just can't help ourselves). Second of all, WTF is America doing there? But wait, you say, America handed the duties over to NATO. Well who's really in charge of Nato? It isn't the Canadians I'll tell you that much (once again, it's this America thing). So, in order to mask direct involvement, America is currently hiding behind NATO. Technicalities aside, how can the American government bounce off into another armed conflict (which are never short endeavors), costing citizens more tax dollars, pilling it on top of a deficit so large it's comical, send human beings into violence so they can get involved in a conflict that they have no attachment to what-so-ever, just so they can live in fear constantly and fire mis-hits (adding to the fear and detachment) because of the lack of proper mapping in the region? Not to mention they are doing all of this while the economy is in such a poor state that hourly jobs are hard to come by even with a master's degree? Something is just plain wrong with this picture.
Isn't Gadhafi evil and shouldn't we free the people? Didn't the rebels ask for our help? Well I've got news for the world, America shouldn't (and quite honestly, can't) be the world's babysitter. Yes, before I get accused of being some type of dictator lover, it is obvious that Gadhafi is crazy. I mean bat shit insane. He's like Charlie Sheen but on a whole new level, he's openly been 'winning' his whole life (King of Africa?....Really dude?). He's done awful things, and the world is most likely much better off without him, but I have no doubt that if the people are that pissed off, he'll go without our help (I've always said that the best solutions are those that come from roots up approaches). Oh and yes, the rebels did ask for our help. But (allegedly) so did the Iraqis way back in '91. How did that turn out for us? Seriously, did we not JUST go through this? Has the American government really not learned that they are digging themselves large hole? Or are they really that greedy for oil, money, and power that they just don't care that they are screwing over Libya as well as their own people? I suspect oil is the reason, because well, if we love repeating our mistakes that much, that's the general belief as to why we bothered with Iraq. It's an obvious statement that the world's dependency on oil needs to end (read Collapse by Jared M. Diamond). However, I am not the one with the answer. It's there, but I don't know enough about economics to suggest anything that could begin to answer that question (I'll save cap and trade for another day).
If we are there primarily for oil, we are going about getting it in the complete wrong way (military violence seems to create more problems than it solves). Here's the problem, whenever we go into a place (from a government standpoint) we assume that the native people want to be just like America. Well guess what? They don't. Now, this mistake is most likely an accident, because it is really hard to accept that there are other world views than your own. I'm not talking at a personal level, I'm talking about a deep cultural connectivity that makes us not just American, but Westerners as well. I would argue that other western cultures may be better at recognizing this than us, but that is simply a matter of how isolated we are relative to other western countries. Furthermore, we loudly, proudly, and ignorantly try to go impose our views and focusing on ourselves. This may be borderline acceptable to our other western counterparts, but in places like the Middle East, the Far East, and Africa, this can be extremely offensive to say the least. In other words, as an American, we tend to believe in certain core values that affect our everything from our everyday lives and behaviors to how we make choices and what our country (in theory) stands for. We were founded on a distrust of government, right to act as we please (within reason -and at our founding, 'we' meant white males), and the celebration of the individual. That is what we believe in and it has (for the most part) worked for us. A country under completely different circumstances containing cultures with completely different belief systems may have a different type of solution. In fact the cultural differences can be so great, that us westerners may not be able to even comprehend why a group would act a certain way. Our celebration of the individual is the complete opposite of many cultures, where decisions are made based upon group consensus. In fact, so much emphasis is placed on total group consensus that any act made outside of that consensus can be seen as betrayal (aka a serious offense). So if we go running in and set up a government as fast as we can (because our culture values efficiency) we may end up not only offending an entire group of people, but we may have made the wrong choices in the process. It is important to understand that just because one group of people does something in a way so foreign that it seems useless to us, that it isn't bad or wrong. It's just different. Do I believe that westerners or Americans in particular are especially bad at this? No, I believe that the world shrunk so fast that most of the world is unable to really wrap their heads around it. Westerners seem to travel and spread out more, so we are faced with dealing with these problems on foreign soil more often. I'm sure the business man from Japan who is used to going through a long process of consensus for big choices made by the company was most likely shocked to find out that he had no input on a move made from higher up.
I can already hear the words 'well if you don't like it here and you think we are all ignorant then why don't you get out?' Well, luckily for you, those thoughts have crossed my mind and more frequently as I get older. However, I like being an American. I like American people (just not a huge fan of the government, but that's part of being American). Even if I did become a full-time expat I was born an American. That means I have certain cultural values and views that are so deeply entrenched in my brain that they won't simply leave. I would always be an outsider, no matter how hard I tried to understand another culture. I'm simply stating that if there is any hope for our generation to take a forward step in the opposite direction, being comfortable with differences beyond your understanding, keeping an open mind, and LISTENING instead of hearing we may be on the right track. Oh, and America, get the heck out of Libya and help your PEOPLE (not your wallet) you have been SWORN to PROTECT (that goes beyond military spending).
Phew. Glad that's over.
-M
So instead of boring you with more tedious details of my planning escapades, I decided to focus on something else. In anticipation of my trip, as well as knowing very little about Muslim culture, I've been keeping up with world news (I am notoriously bad at this, not because I don't want to know what's going on in the world, but because I find the American news media so damn depressing). However, since shit is hitting the fan all over North Africa and the Middle East, I figured if I'm going to a Muslim country (not to mention my current studio project is working with a school in Saudi Arabia), I better know something about what is going on over there. Furthermore, I've been reading this book on eastern (particularly Malaysian...thus Chinese, Indian, and Malay) culture, belief systems, and customs. I'm beginning to form opinions about what is going on and why we can't just all get along (well, not quite yet anyway).
I'd first like to start out with what prompted me to write this in the first place....WTF is America doing in Libya? First of all, you went in with just the FRENCH...the French. Now I don't have anything against the people of France, but the military?...come on I'm American (we just can't help ourselves). Second of all, WTF is America doing there? But wait, you say, America handed the duties over to NATO. Well who's really in charge of Nato? It isn't the Canadians I'll tell you that much (once again, it's this America thing). So, in order to mask direct involvement, America is currently hiding behind NATO. Technicalities aside, how can the American government bounce off into another armed conflict (which are never short endeavors), costing citizens more tax dollars, pilling it on top of a deficit so large it's comical, send human beings into violence so they can get involved in a conflict that they have no attachment to what-so-ever, just so they can live in fear constantly and fire mis-hits (adding to the fear and detachment) because of the lack of proper mapping in the region? Not to mention they are doing all of this while the economy is in such a poor state that hourly jobs are hard to come by even with a master's degree? Something is just plain wrong with this picture.
Isn't Gadhafi evil and shouldn't we free the people? Didn't the rebels ask for our help? Well I've got news for the world, America shouldn't (and quite honestly, can't) be the world's babysitter. Yes, before I get accused of being some type of dictator lover, it is obvious that Gadhafi is crazy. I mean bat shit insane. He's like Charlie Sheen but on a whole new level, he's openly been 'winning' his whole life (King of Africa?....Really dude?). He's done awful things, and the world is most likely much better off without him, but I have no doubt that if the people are that pissed off, he'll go without our help (I've always said that the best solutions are those that come from roots up approaches). Oh and yes, the rebels did ask for our help. But (allegedly) so did the Iraqis way back in '91. How did that turn out for us? Seriously, did we not JUST go through this? Has the American government really not learned that they are digging themselves large hole? Or are they really that greedy for oil, money, and power that they just don't care that they are screwing over Libya as well as their own people? I suspect oil is the reason, because well, if we love repeating our mistakes that much, that's the general belief as to why we bothered with Iraq. It's an obvious statement that the world's dependency on oil needs to end (read Collapse by Jared M. Diamond). However, I am not the one with the answer. It's there, but I don't know enough about economics to suggest anything that could begin to answer that question (I'll save cap and trade for another day).
If we are there primarily for oil, we are going about getting it in the complete wrong way (military violence seems to create more problems than it solves). Here's the problem, whenever we go into a place (from a government standpoint) we assume that the native people want to be just like America. Well guess what? They don't. Now, this mistake is most likely an accident, because it is really hard to accept that there are other world views than your own. I'm not talking at a personal level, I'm talking about a deep cultural connectivity that makes us not just American, but Westerners as well. I would argue that other western cultures may be better at recognizing this than us, but that is simply a matter of how isolated we are relative to other western countries. Furthermore, we loudly, proudly, and ignorantly try to go impose our views and focusing on ourselves. This may be borderline acceptable to our other western counterparts, but in places like the Middle East, the Far East, and Africa, this can be extremely offensive to say the least. In other words, as an American, we tend to believe in certain core values that affect our everything from our everyday lives and behaviors to how we make choices and what our country (in theory) stands for. We were founded on a distrust of government, right to act as we please (within reason -and at our founding, 'we' meant white males), and the celebration of the individual. That is what we believe in and it has (for the most part) worked for us. A country under completely different circumstances containing cultures with completely different belief systems may have a different type of solution. In fact the cultural differences can be so great, that us westerners may not be able to even comprehend why a group would act a certain way. Our celebration of the individual is the complete opposite of many cultures, where decisions are made based upon group consensus. In fact, so much emphasis is placed on total group consensus that any act made outside of that consensus can be seen as betrayal (aka a serious offense). So if we go running in and set up a government as fast as we can (because our culture values efficiency) we may end up not only offending an entire group of people, but we may have made the wrong choices in the process. It is important to understand that just because one group of people does something in a way so foreign that it seems useless to us, that it isn't bad or wrong. It's just different. Do I believe that westerners or Americans in particular are especially bad at this? No, I believe that the world shrunk so fast that most of the world is unable to really wrap their heads around it. Westerners seem to travel and spread out more, so we are faced with dealing with these problems on foreign soil more often. I'm sure the business man from Japan who is used to going through a long process of consensus for big choices made by the company was most likely shocked to find out that he had no input on a move made from higher up.
I can already hear the words 'well if you don't like it here and you think we are all ignorant then why don't you get out?' Well, luckily for you, those thoughts have crossed my mind and more frequently as I get older. However, I like being an American. I like American people (just not a huge fan of the government, but that's part of being American). Even if I did become a full-time expat I was born an American. That means I have certain cultural values and views that are so deeply entrenched in my brain that they won't simply leave. I would always be an outsider, no matter how hard I tried to understand another culture. I'm simply stating that if there is any hope for our generation to take a forward step in the opposite direction, being comfortable with differences beyond your understanding, keeping an open mind, and LISTENING instead of hearing we may be on the right track. Oh, and America, get the heck out of Libya and help your PEOPLE (not your wallet) you have been SWORN to PROTECT (that goes beyond military spending).
Phew. Glad that's over.
-M
